Network Rail 'using sheep to protect plants'

Network Rail has hired a flock of sheep to protect plants including rare orchids growing near the East Coast main line.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the company, which has responsibility for maintaining the UK's rail infrastructure, has been loaned a number of Wiltshire Horn sheep by Huntingdonshire District Council.

The animals will tend a 35 hectare trackside field in Great Stukeley, Cambridgeshire which contains species including cowslip, bird's foot trefoil, hairy violet and rare pyramidal orchids.

Network Rail maintenance director Steve Featherstone told the paper: "Britain's railway network provides a 20,000-mile green corridor spanning the length and breadth of the country, home to some of our rarest species and a major source of biodiversity.

"The partnership we've put in place with the Council means we can continue to improve standards at Great Stukeley while driving down costs."

The sheep, which apparently show no interest in the rare plants, will be tasked with eating brambles and hawthorn scrub that would stop the threatened species from growing if left untamed.

The maintenance was previously undertaken by company staff and volunteers at an annual cost of £50,000 ($80,934).

Network Rail has a legal responsibility to protect the plants as the field is a site of special scientific interest (SSSI). The company has even coined its own acronym for the flock, dubbing it the 'High Output Ovine Vegetation System' (HOOVES).